After some deliberation, I decided to take this Chapter Memory Study into the letters of John. We begin with 1 John 1, and the memory passage is:
1 John 1:3, 7-10
3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The outline Acronym for 1 John is the word 'ABIDE'. This word appears 22 times in this letter. And while it's not the most frequent word (Love-48, know-39), it seems to capture the essence of the main themes....and it has 5 letters :)
So, for chapter 1, the 'A' in Abide is Abide in fellowship and Abide in light.
The first section, vv1-4, 'Abide in fellowship', focuses on the importance of fellowship; both with God and with each other. John begins by establishing the credibility of his message about Christ by claiming to be an eye-witness and to have touched Him with his hands. The Life was manifest to them and now they proclaim it to others. The memory portion of this section includes the word 'fellowship' two times. John proclaims that what they have seen and heard they now pass on to others for the benefit of fellowship; horizontal fellowship with the body of Christ as well as vertical fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus. John has no doubt experienced the full joy of fellowship (on both counts) and deeply desires others to value that same fellowship. By heeding the message of the Gospel and holding fast to Christ and his body, that would make John's joy full and complete. It is not a selfish desire, but a longing to see others in the same communion with God as he has experienced.
The second section, 'Abide in the light', we see a shift from talking about the benefits of adhering to the message to the message itself. V5 states 'This is the message...that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all'. Then John follows with several complementary arguments:
1. If we say we have fellowship with God, but walk in the darkness, we are lying
2. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with each other and with God
3. If we say we have no sin, we are lying to ourselves
4. If we confess our sin, He will forgive and restore us
5. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar
Since God is light, the rest of these 'tests' are measured against that standard; holiness, purity, righteousness, etc. The arguments that follow are logical; if you live and walk in the light (notice that it is not 'according to' the light, as if we were required to attain sinless perfection) we retain fellowship with God (first and foremost) and fellowship with His people. The things that pull us away from fellowship; walking in darkness, lying (to ourselves, God, and others), claiming to have no sin, not confessing sin, and claiming never to have sinned. The things that facilitate our abiding in fellowship; faith in God as THE light, walking in the light, telling ourselves (and God and others) the truth, confessing our sins to God, and having a correct view of ourselves (humility is not necessarily a 'low' view of oneself, but an accurate view of oneself).
One that clobbered me when studying this passage is verse 9. I have heard this verse quoted and referred to all of my life. Before now, I have always understood it to apply to those who are lost; they confess their sins and He forgives their sins and cleanses their hearts from unrighteousness. But now, studying this verse in context (brilliant!) leads me to realize that this is not forgiveness of the judicial sense (which does happen once and for all at the moment of our conversion when we believe and are justified) but forgiveness in the parental, or familial, sense. I guess I'm confessing one of those 'duh' moments we all have when studying God's Word. This verses does not allow the 'fire-insurance' approach to our walk with Christ (I prayed the prayer, I'm in for eternity, I'm forgiven). Yes, the penalty for our sins has been paid by Christ. He bore our sins so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Pet 2:24). Romans 6 goes into great detail to show us that we have died with Christ, we now live with Christ, and we have been set free from the bondage of sin and it's penalty; death. But even though we have a new heart (a 'new self') that is being renewed by God to be like Christ (Eph 4:24, Col 3:10), we still sin. We don't HAVE to sin (like we did with our old heart), but we still chose to ignore, rebel, disobey, and disregard God and His commands. So, as His child and because our relationship with Him is as valuable as our standing with Him, we must ask our Father to forgive our daily sins. These daily sins do not jeopardize our standing in eternity, but as is clear from the teaching in 1 John 1, it does affect our fellowship with God and our fellowship with His body.
How does this affect my worship (and my discipleship)?
What is the value of corporate worship? I have been asked (and have asked myself) that question many times. Why is it so important to come together every Sunday to sing and hear a sermon? I guess I have to go back to this; God doesn't want us to live our lives without Him, and He doesn't want us to live our lives without others in the body. In fact, it seems very clear that following Christ WITH one another ('co-apprenticing' as Willard puts it) is His Master-plan for our spiritual growth. So, while meeting together once a week for worship, prayer, and teaching is not, CAN NOT, be the only aspects of our spiritual growth, I believe they provide a valuable example and framework for our greater discipleship; becoming more like Christ with one another. Sunday morning, among other things, should be a 'taste' of life in the body, not the entire meal. Trying to cram all of our spiritual growth into an hour on Sunday is short-circuiting the process God has given us in Scripture.
He is faithful, and just,
Ethan
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